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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

FIRSTLY: if you have any questions about my experience in the program, please post them and I'll do my best to answer them in a follow up post. If there are no questions this will definitely be my last post.
It has been over a year since I completed my Disney experience. I realize in my posts I often sounded whiny. Well, I was new to the working world and a whiny child. I ain't even bovvered.
Lately, I have gotten many questions regarding my CP experience so I thought I'd give a little blurb here ("blurb" is a technical term):
Since I left Disney I have missed it very much. Any time I leave Disneyland I miss it, but I made so many memories while I was in California working for The Mouse.

This is the Laie temple. I'm one of the future sister missionaries ;)

This is not what I do for work. But it was a highlight.

For those who were in college program with me, I am currently living in Laie, Hawaii attending Brigham Young University and working in the back as a dishwasher at the Polynesian Cultural Center. In case you haven't been religiously keeping up with my facebook posts, this has been yet another amazing experience. I work directly with one other palagi (Poly word for white kid-think haoule), three Tongans, a Fijian, around five Kiribasis, two guys from Papua New Guinea, a girl from Vanuatu, two Samoans, a Chinese guy, and a couple of locals. It has been life changing getting to know them and getting to attend school with them. I get to live with people from, literally, all over the world (this is the most international student body in the world) and they have taught me many wonderful things. I'm studying Marketing and plan to serve a mission for the LDS (Mormon) beginning this coming fall that will last at least a year and a half, so that will probably change when I get home. I don't know where I'll be called yet. So, I have been well and very happy and continually adventuring since leaving Disney. I hope to return to work there again one day after returning home from my mission and doing my last year of school. My family may even make the pilgrimage to the Disney motherland this summer.
BACK TO THE OTHER STUFF NOW:
hemhemhem: One thing that has been great after leaving Disney is meeting other Disney lovers and CP's. While I have only met one other person who worked Cali, I have met numerous people who did Florida CP and loved it. There have been many excited discussions about our experiences and about how much we adore Disney.

Me during college program in October

Also, I have many wonderful memories that I associate with my Disney experience. I picked up a muffin from our student store here once that smelled like cinnamon and gingerbread. This brought me back to the cold, misty nights at Disneyland when I'd work parade shifts. I'd listen to the music playing on Mainstreet, and after the fireworks I got to see the faces of children gazing at the "magic Christmas snow". I still remember the look in their eyes as they sat on their parents shoulders under the lights, just watching the white fluff blowing all around them.
I also met many amazing people working the Buzz Lightyear attraction. There are some really interesting people that I still keep in contact with today who I never would have met otherwise. They were friendly coworkers who did the best job they could and were nice to me and still make my life better as we exchange short comments or photos that are interesting. For that I am grateful.
FOR PEOPLE LOOKING INTO THE PROGRAM:
LDS kids might look more at Florida. In Cali we were definitely on our own for getting to church and activities. The singles branch there is super nice, just a bit far away. Also, there's BYU housing in Florida while in California there is not. Although I liked having a smaller group of CP's it could also be difficult at times because of differences in ways we would spend free time. I was particularly young too though (the youngest person in the program to my knowledge), and I think that had some affect.
Rent is fairly pricey, but if you get into a good area where not everyone has a ton of seniority, you can still have a pretty good chunk of your check left over after. My rent was 136ish every two weeks and my paycheck was usually around 280 depending on my hours. So after tithing I saved quite a bit because I used public transportation to get to work (which Disney paid for) and had fun going to Disneyland for free a lot. I'm quite frugal so I didn't spend on a lot of ridiculous things and took advantage of discounts and free stuff.
For choosing where you want to work...basically, you get to tell them your top three preferences, but they will put you where ever they need you in the end. I work attractions, which was my top preference, but I knew people who said the same things and did custodial. I did have a lot of theater experience though which seems to be something they look for. All the jobs will be hard at times, but that's life. If you work hard and chose to have a good attitude you'll be just fine.

At Buzz my first day in Cali

A school dance with friends. So we have a "then and now"

For now that's all I have time to say, but I will answer specific questions in more detail. I just don't know what new/potential CP's would want to know. Have an awesome day. Alooooooooha!